The present invention relates to an apparatus for facilitating proper tucking or nicking of a cover material around an exposed perimeter portion of a pair of opposed panels and a centrally located spine to form a hard cover or casing for a book.
As is conventional in the art (see FIGS. 1A and 1B), a pair of identical opposed panels 2 (only one of which is shown in these drawings) are spaced from one another by a centrally positioned spine (not shown in these Figures) and all three components are subsequently partially encased by an exterior cover material 6 to form an exterior hard book cover 8 for a book. The folding of a protruding free edge portion 7 of the cover material 6 around the perimeter of the opposed panels 2 and centrally positioned spine (not shown) is critical to provide an acceptable appearance for the book cover. In fact, one of the primary reasons why exterior hard book covers 8 are typically rejected, during an inspection process, is that the cover material 6 is not properly folded around the corner regions the panels 2 to provide an acceptable appearance.
With reference to FIG. 1A, a common problem which occurs during folding of the cover material 6, in the over the corner regions of the panels 2, is the formation of an unsightly dog-ear 10, i.e. an improperly tucked corner region. Such dog-eared formation is a primary reason why a manufactured hard cover is rejected during the inspection process.
A desired standard corner, to be achieved by the apparatus according to the present invention, is shown in FIG. 1B and designated by reference numeral 12 while a desired library corner, to be achieved by the apparatus according to the present invention, is shown in FIG. 1C and is designated by reference numeral 13.
Wherefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the shortcomings and drawbacks associated with the prior art hard book cover manufacturing equipment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing hard book covers which consistently provides acceptable folds for the hard book covers, both standard corners (also commonly referred to as standard edition corners or square corners) and library corners, to minimize the quantity of rejections of the hard book covers during the inspection process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a pair of tuck fingers which are automatically positioned by a computer, during the manufacturing process, at a desired location adjacent the corner regions of the panels, to provide a desired tuck or nick action to the folded cover material along the perimeter edge regions of the panels to achieve an acceptable fold.
Still another object of the present invention is to facilitate a simultaneous inward jogging or indexing of both of the tuck fingers, relative to one another during the manufacturing process, to provide a superior tuck or nick of the cover material in the corner regions of the panels and thereby result in a superior standard corner during the manufacture of a hard book cover.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of pusher fingers which provide additional support to an edge perimeter portion of the panel(s) and the spine, while the cover material is being folded over the edge regions of the panels and the spines, thereby facilitate a superior fold of the cover material relative to those components.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for folding hard book covers which is relatively easy to operate and can be manufactured at relatively low cost in comparison to conventional hard cover folding assemblies.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a computer system for controlling each of the drives and movable actuators, of the apparatus for manufacturing hard book covers, to facilitate substantially automated production hard book covers with minimal operator intervention.
The present invention also relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a hard book cover, said apparatus comprising: a framework defining a longitudinal axis of the apparatus; an infeed table assembly, supported by the framework, for supporting a cover material, a pair of opposed panels and a centrally located spine; the cover material, the pair of opposed panels and the centrally located spine all forming a cover assembly; a conveying mechanism, supported by the framework, for receiving the cover assembly from the infeed table assembly and conveying the cover assembly to a fold mechanism; the fold mechanism, supported by the framework, for folding an exposed free end of the cover material around a longitudinal perimeter portion of the cover assembly; and a pair of tuck fingers, conveyed by a tuck finger drive mechanism, to move the pair of tuck fingers inwardly toward one another and tuck the cover material adjacent opposed corners of the panels during folding by the fold mechanism.
The present invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a hard book cover, the method comprising the steps of: defining, with a framework, a longitudinal axis of an apparatus; supporting an infeed table assembly, on the framework, for supporting a cover material, a pair of opposed panels and a centrally located spine; forming a cover assembly from the cover material, the pair of opposed panels and the centrally located spine; supporting a conveying mechanism, on the framework, for receiving the cover assembly from the pressure mechanism and conveying the cover assembly to a fold mechanism; supporting the fold mechanism, on by the framework, for folding an exposed free end of the cover material around a longitudinal perimeter portion of the cover assembly; and conveying a pair of tuck fingers, via by a tuck finger drive mechanism, to move the pair of tuck fingers inwardly toward one another and tuck the cover material adjacent a corner of the panels during folding by the fold mechanism.